


Routines

by Melodious329



Category: X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-10-11
Updated: 2011-10-11
Packaged: 2017-10-24 12:18:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,283
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/263401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Melodious329/pseuds/Melodious329
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for LIvejournal comm xmen_firstkink for this prompt:  Alex doesn't eat or sleep. It's not that he doesn't need to or that he's trying to avoid doing those things it's more like he forgets. After so long in jail he's used to being told to eat or sleep that when he's not being told to do those things that he forgets. Someone [or a few people] sees and makes it their mission to help him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Routines

Frustrated and exhausted, Alex sits down hard on the floor of the bunker. Charles told him to keep practicing even though the professor could see from the first few attempts that Alex wasn’t going to get any better.

Charles probably regrets ever springing him from that prison. He’ll never learn. He’s always going to be dangerous and out of control. And after seeing what they’re up against, seeing how Shaw just absorbed all that destructive energy…

Alex swallows and blinks hard, trying not to think about Darwin, not to think about how Darwin looked at him when…he slams his foot down on the bunker’s floor. He’s so fucking stupid! He shouldn’t have left that cell in solitary, that’s where he belongs.

After a few hours waiting in the bunker, he wonders whether this isn’t his new cell. He’s cold now in his sleeveless sweatshirt and hungry and thirsty. He draws his legs to his chest and leans his cheek on a knee. This cell feels too big, too empty.

Eventually, the door opens again and Charles comes inside, looking like he’s surprised to see Alex in there. Like he forgot where he left Alex.

“Still practicing, Alex?” Charles asks.

Alex shrugs. “It’s no use. I’m not getting any better.”

“You should have joined us for lunch. Your aim isn’t likely to improve if you’re exhausted,” Charles chides him.

“Lunch?” Alex asks, stupidly. But then he looks back down to his knees.

No one came to get him for lunch. They probably didn’t think that he deserved lunch, but now he’s going to be scolded for being exhausted. He’s already had a foster family just like this.

“How about we go get you something to eat then,” Charles continues, with an air of polite confusion. “And then we’ll join the rest for exercise in the courtyard.”

Alex follows the older mutant out of the bunker and into the kitchen. Charles keeps talking about how Alex can gain control, going on about getting Hank to look into it. Alex isn’t really listening as he makes himself a sandwich and eats it quickly.

He’s still frustrated with himself when they get outside, frustrated that everyone else is doing better than he is. Charles just can’t admit that he was wrong, that not all of them can be saved from their mutations.

When they go outside to run, Alex can’t help making fun of ‘bozo’ some more. Like having big feet and running super fast is such a fucking horrible mutation.

After having dinner together, Alex starts to feel a little better, starts to laugh more with Sean and is nicer to Hank. They all end up in the library, just goofing off, until Charles comes in and insists they all choose a book to read. Alex chooses something about physics because really he just wants to know more about what forces affect people on the Earth.

He ends up taking the book to bed and stays up half the night. No one tells him to go to bed so he guesses he’s supposed to keep reading. The professor probably thinks he needs the extra time because he’s so much dumber than the rest of them. He’s lucky he finished high school.

Alex falls asleep on his desk with the lights still on.

He wakes up when he hears a knocking on the door, immediately trying to pretend that he was still reading instead of sleeping.

Clearing his throat, he answers, “Yeah.”

The door opens but it’s not Charles, it’s Hank standing in the doorway looking supremely uncomfortable to be there. Like Alex is going to fucking attack him or something because that’s what ex-cons do, right?

Alex’s face forms a sneer before Hank can get out any words.

“You missed breakfast,” Hank starts. “Charles asks that you come down to the bunker so we can test something.”

Alex nods and gets up, resigned to skipping breakfast. He’s moving toward the door when Hank turns back to him.

“Don’t you want to change or anything?” Hank asks.

“Can I?” Alex asks.

Hank looks at him like he’s a fucking moron and answers, “Of course. Just meet us down there.”

Showering quickly, Alex gets down there to see Hank again in the bunker. He has some kind of metal disc that looks like a hubcap with him.

Alex is so happy when he finally hits the middle mannequin that he totally forgets how hungry and tired he is. He’s just in awe as he looks from Charles’ face to Hank’s. The nerd is smiling at him, and for a second it’s like finally someone knows how much Alex has struggled for this control. The control that Hank just gave to him. And Hank looks great when he really smiles like that.

Alex is feeling good until he has to climb the stairs out of the bunker. He hasn’t gone more than a few steps when he feels like his legs have gone to mush and his heart is pounding like he’d run a marathon. He grabs onto the railing and slowly forces himself to keep climbing.

He has to shield his eyes from the bright sun when he gets up, a headache pounding in the base of his skull already. Stopping, he leans on the wall just outside the door, but Charles doesn’t seem to notice anything as the older mutant claps him on the back.

“I’m going to go see to Sean,” Charles says with a smile and a look in his eye that looks a lot like pride, in Alex of all things. “Feel free to use the weight room for a while,” Charles offers.

Alex nods in response. Hank stays beside him while Charles hurries off to the next mutant who needs help. For a second, it feels nice to stand there beside Hank, to feel camaraderie for a moment, to feel like he’s really part of it all here.

But as soon as Alex tries to take a step away from the wall, he stumbles a little, feeling dizzy.

“Are you ok?” Hank asks, his hand outstretched but not touching Alex.

“I’m fine,” Alex says, his anger coming back to the surface at his own weakness. He doesn’t have the luxury of weakness. “Don’t you have some geek stuff to do in your lab?” he snaps.

“Have you eaten?” Hank asks, for once undeterred by Alex’s mean comments.

Now it’s Alex’s turn to look at Hank like he’s the stupid one. “I thought you were smart. You said it this morning. I missed breakfast.”

“No wonder,” Hank muses. “Didn’t you hear Charles saying that we could grab some food anytime?”

“Yeah,” Alex says. “But…” But he didn’t mean it, Alex thinks. He didn’t mean Alex, at the very least. He’s never been allowed to just get food whenever he wanted.

In the foster homes, it was always that food was too expensive, that he ate too much, that the government didn’t pay them enough to let him have as much food as he wants. In prison there was a routine for everything, permission before he could do anything. Even in the CIA facility, there were mealtimes and lights out.

“Come on,” Hank says, more confident now like he’s figured out Alex’s puzzle. “Let’s go get some food.”

Alex is still sullen as he follows the big-footed mutant back to the mansion’s kitchen. He makes himself another sandwich without even looking over at the nerd. Except as soon as he sits down to eat, Hank’s staring at him like he’s doing it wrong.

Alex shakes his head and pulls the plate even closer to him, his arms on the table creating a cage around his food. He eats it as fast as possible.

Still, the food makes him feel better, less like he’s going to fall down at least, and he completes the rest of the day’s activities with the rest of the team. But after dinner, Hank goes back to his lab and Charles and Erik disappear to play ‘chess’ some more. But Alex is still tired so he leaves Raven and Sean to their own devices and goes to read in his room again.

He doesn’t intend to stay up this time. Charles said to be sure that he went to bed early before leaving with Erik, but he forgets without anyone actually telling him, reminding him. Time doesn’t really mean anything to him.

The next morning, he’s late again. No one came to wake him so he decides to take a long shower remembering the previous day. But then he realizes what time it is and races onto the grounds for training, not wanting Charles to think that he’s not serious about this.

But when he gets to the bunker, no one’s waiting for him there to tell him what to do. Charles only stops by the bunker but doesn’t stay, only there long enough to make sure that Alex knows his duties for the day, practice in the bunker, running outside to recharge, weights in the gym.

It’s weird to be in this huge mansion with no one watching him, no one looking over his shoulder. He wants to take advantage of it somehow, somehow without getting in trouble so he goes back to his room for another shower after the weight room. And afterward, he flops back on the obscenely large and soft bed, picking up the book.

He forgets to come to dinner. Sean eventually knocks on his door wanting to be entertained, but he has a bowl of popcorn that Alex promptly steals and inhales.

“Hey, that was…get your own,” Sean whines, even though the popcorn’s already disappeared.

Sean rolls his eyes and then leads Alex back to the living room they’ve been hanging out in. Raven and Hank are still to be seen but the two boys amuse themselves as well as they can without trashing the room.

That night, Alex lies down to go to sleep as soon as he gets into his room, he’s so tired. But it’s a restless night, he spends tossing and turning. His head hurts again and he feels twitchy. But he’s felt like this before, in other foster homes, in prison when his food was taken from him or the guards messed with it. Hunger’s a feeling he’s used to.

But he’s so tired that he doesn’t get up with his alarm and he’s late again. He feels like he’s constantly behind, like he’s not pulling his own weight. He’s running across the lawn to see Hank coming out of his lab.

“Oh, there you are, Alex?” Hank calls out with a small smile. “Did you get breakfast this morning?”

But Alex doesn’t respond. He feels like the sun is literally beating him down. His vision seems to tunnel like Hank is all that he can see   
and he’s getting further away even as they’re walking toward each other. He sees Hank start to run right before things go dark.

“Alex,” Hank yells.

Alex blinks his eyes to see a blurry blue sky above him, only for Hank’s face to suddenly enter his line of sight. Trying to swallow, he feels like his tongue is stuck to his dry mouth.

Everything tilts nauseatingly as Hank pulls on his arm. He doesn’t know what sound he makes, but Hank just holds him upright for a second, squished into Hank’s too-warm side as he stares at the green grass, trying not to puke.

“I’m ok,” he says finally, swallowing and trying to step away.

But Hank doesn’t let him get too far, keeping a hand on Alex’s shoulder. “You need some food,” Hank says.

At this point, Alex doesn’t argue. He’s grateful for someone to tell him what to do, grateful for someone else to take control for a minute. And he likes Hank when he’s assertive.

They head to the kitchen where Hank makes some oatmeal and tells Alex to eat it slowly. Alex doesn’t need the reminder, he distinctly remembers what happens when he eats too fast when he’s this hungry.

They don’t talk. Alex wonders what Hank is thinking but he doesn’t want to hear it. He doesn’t want to explain, even if he could explain what his problem is. He’s confused…and tired.

Hank slides the bowl out from under his nose and Alex stops himself from grabbing it. “You need to take a nap,” Hanks says firmly, grabbing Alex’s arm who goes quietly.

He’s so tired when he lies down that he almost thinks that he imagines the gentle touch to his hair before he falls asleep.

When he wakes it’s to Hank opening his door and telling him to come to lunch. And after he’s done in the weight room and has taken a shower, Hank’s back again to bring him to dinner.

Alex is reading in his room when Hank knocks and then opens the door once more.

“You should go to sleep,” Hank tells him.

“Yeah, uh,” Alex closes his book and gets out of bed. He’s certainly noticed what Hank’s trying to do. “Thanks, but you don’t have to come here all the time.”

Hank shrugs, suddenly self-conscious like he’s not sure if Alex is telling him to go away.

“But it’s good for you to get out of the lab too,” Alex says, suddenly self-conscious himself, wondering if he’s reaching for the impossible here, something he doesn’t possibly deserve.

“You should go to sleep, too,” Alex says, stepping close and reaching out to catch Hank’s large hand in his own.

For a moment they simply stare into each other’s stunned blue eyes. And then Hank takes a single step inside.


End file.
